Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2022-23 Season Part 3: Drop the puck!

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Is he playing?!?!?

 

[Brian23]

Is he playing?!?!?

Looks like it.

 

[twabby]

I think you're underselling the age difference there. He is gonna be 32 and wanted a 7 or 8 year deal. Even if Wilson wants the same, I'd argue there's a large difference between paying a 30 year old till they're 37/38 and a 32 year old till their 39/40.

But, I wouldn't give Wilson a 7/8 year deal anyway. I feel like GMBM has seemingly put 35 as his stop point for how late he'll go in a contract with anyone recently. That would line up close to what they wanted out of Orlov, 3 or 4 year deal.

The age difference is a thing but I don't know that a 20 month difference should matter all that much. Besides I don't think Orlov was asking for 8 years, Elliotte Friedman suggested Orlov wanted 6 or 7 so that strengthens the comparison to Wilson.

I guess I just don't see why Wilson wouldn't want or get 7 or 8 years on his next contract. Oshie got 8 years at age 30 and I don't know that Oshie had nearly the reputation around the league that Wilson does now. Why would Wilson lowball himself on what is likely to be his final significant contract on a team that is on a clear downward trajectory? Why would Wilson take a 4-5 year deal that takes him to age 34-35 in a league that is increasingly hesitant to pay older players and on a team where his stats could drop significantly as the team ages out of contention?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Looks like it.

Glad hes back but will be holding my breath every time hes hit

 

[YippieKaey]

I don't get why you keep Brown and move Wilson.

Wilson is the younger player and 3 times the player.

Trade value

 

[YippieKaey]

I think we extend Willy but incase we cannot Im trying to think what trade for Wilson this offseason wouldnt piss me off.
24 1st no protections
25 1st no protections
good NHL player on rookie contract

This is hard. That doesnt seem like enough

I'd take that trade straight up.

 

[g00n]

I think some people forget the object is to win hockey games not just trade players.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

 

[Langway]

Hopefully a similar level of assessment informs their off-season, from personnel to a coaching change that better aligns with skilled execution, pace and impact. If it's another conventional off-season working the margins and raising the floor there won't be much of a path. They need to think more about how they can catch up to CAR/NJD/NYR in the next couple seasons and win a playoff round again (at least). If it's more about tinkering around the margins time is really working against them. It's closer-to-peak thinking when they're past that stage.

Even if fully healthy the downgrade from Orlov & Gustafsson to Sandin & Alexeyev (or some other cheap 3LD) seems significant if they keep with a more structured, defense-first approach. You never know what the trade market may bear so I'm fine if they largely run it back if opportunities don't present themselves for significant upgrades. But they at least need to target a bolder refresh behind the bench that's more developmental in intent and skill/offensive-execution focused to better maximize remaining impact (and what they have on the way). Lavi only seems to have the hammer when it comes to handling skilled players and little concern for upside if some eggs need to be broken along the way. Then if need be target upside plays in UFA along the lines of Strome if some shake loose on the cheap. All pretty obvious stuff mostly only it does require prioritizing some areas over others and something of a big picture rethink.

 

[Silky mitts]

Losing out on a shot at drafting Bedard by knocking out the Islanders, Panthers, Sabres, or Senators

Losing out on a shot at drafting Bedard by knocking out the Penguins, ending their 16 year playoff run

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

We are clearly a lot better with Carlson on the first line. I am rooting for the best draft pick and Carlson to be the best player he can be.

 

[g00n]

Let's pump the brakes...CHI and Cbus are bottom feeding teams. We're struggling to make a WC spot and they're 20pts behind even that pace.

This is the False Hope part of the season. It's better than no hope and I guess miracles do happen according to Al Michaels.

No real expectations.

 

[Langway]

Have to take the next two in rego to have a shot you'd think.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Have to take the next two in rego to have a shot you'd think.

7-1-1 gets them to 91 points. Is that even enough? Not sure. It would take a run not seen since the Hamburgler Miracle if they got in.

This feels like rooting for the Commanders in a bad NFCE towards the end of another lost NFL season. They could either make the playoffs or draft in the top 10, who knows!

I predicted they’d f*** around and miss by three points while torpedoing their draft pick. The prediction looks right on track. Sad thing is if then went something like 2-4-0 or 1-4-1 instead of 0-6-0 right after the ASG they’re right there. But, alas.

 

[g00n]

7-1-1 gets them to 91 points. Is that even enough? Not sure. It would take a run not seen since the Hamburgler Miracle if they got in.

This feels like rooting for the Commanders in a bad NFCE towards the end of another lost NFL season. They could either make the playoffs or draft in the top 10, who knows!

I predicted they’d f*** around and miss by three points while torpedoing their draft pick. The prediction looks right on track. Sad thing is if then went something like 2-4-0 or 1-4-1 instead of 0-6-0 right after the ASG they’re right there. But, alas.

Which is exactly why I jumped shit after the FLA loss.

Possible? Yes.

Likely? Not at all.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Which is exactly why I jumped shit after the FLA loss.

Possible? Yes.

Likely? Not at all.

“Jumped shit” is a terrific typo

 

[george14]

It would be a miracle if the Caps made the playoffs at this point. 9 games left, 4 points behind PIT with PIT having a game in hand. The season is damn near over so basically everything needs to go in favor of WSH and everything against FLA + PIT. I think PIT also ends the season with CBJ and CHI.

All 3 of these teams are going to lose in the 1st round anyway, sadly.

 

[pman25]

If Debrincat prices himself out of Ottawa, would you guys trade for him?

My guess is he will hold Ottawa hostage with his $9 mil QO leverage which forces a trade. I'm guessing he doesn't really wanna be in Canada but I have no evidence to refute that. I think Ottawa will be forced to move him though. I don't think I'd offer our top 15 pick for him but if we could move Kuznetsov maybe in a separate deal, maybe send Mantha to Ottawa, and use the assets acquired from said Kuznetsov trade, I think it would be a decent fit.

Reunite Strome and Debrincat too

 

[twabby]

If Debrincat prices himself out of Ottawa, would you guys trade for him?

My guess is he will hold Ottawa hostage with his $9 mil QO leverage which forces a trade. I'm guessing he doesn't really wanna be in Canada but I have no evidence to refute that. I think Ottawa will be forced to move him though. I don't think I'd offer our top 15 pick for him but if we could move Kuznetsov maybe in a separate deal, maybe send Mantha to Ottawa, and use the assets acquired from said Kuznetsov trade, I think it would be a decent fit.

Reunite Strome and Debrincat too

He's a guy they should certainly be interested in. He's having a down year in Ottawa but there aren't any red flags when it comes to his game, and he'll be 25-26 next season which is a very productive age even if I'd prefer a slightly younger acquisition at RW. Given his history I think he'd be a great acquisition.

However the cap figure would certainly be a problem. There's no way they can carry 3 right wingers that are ~$9 million (DeBrincat), $5.75 million (Oshie), and $5.167 million (Wilson). They'd almost surely have to trade one of Oshie or Wilson to make it work.

Also my understanding is that he typically plays the Ovie spot on the power play, so his usefulness on the PP would be seriously diminished. I'm not sure if he can play the bumper spot or not, but that would have to be his role unless they completely rework the power play setup

 

[pman25]

I think Debrincat plays LW, as Giroux/Batherson are right side. And yeah the powerplay would need to be considered. Either bumper or hell you could move Ovi into bumper some too. Opportunity to completely redesign the powerplay as well if they wanted and cycle guys/generate more movement

Just not everyday you have opportunity to acquire a 25 year top 6 winger at a likely discount, so they gotta think about it if serious about retooling to get younger talent. He fits the bill

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

He's a guy they should certainly be interested in. He's having a down year in Ottawa but there aren't any red flags when it comes to his game, and he'll be 25-26 next season which is a very productive age even if I'd prefer a slightly younger acquisition at RW. Given his history I think he'd be a great acquisition.

However the cap figure would certainly be a problem. There's no way they can carry 3 right wingers that are ~$9 million (DeBrincat), $5.75 million (Oshie), and $5.167 million (Wilson). They'd almost surely have to trade one of Oshie or Wilson to make it work.

Also my understanding is that he typically plays the Ovie spot on the power play, so his usefulness on the PP would be seriously diminished. I'm not sure if he can play the bumper spot or not, but that would have to be his role unless they completely rework the power play setup

There were also questions about whether or not he can produce away from Kane. The same questions were asked about Panarin but Panarin went and had a better season his first year in Columbus than he did in Chicago. DeBrincat did not alleviate any of those concerns with his performance this year. That said, he’s still a 2x 40-goal guy and you’d assume he’ll bounce back next year.

Somewhat ironically, people thought that Strome’a production was the product of playing with Kane and DeBrincat yet Strome is having arguably the best season of the three.

 

[RandyHolt]

I have to say Strome has exceeded my expectations of him. He doesnt get much fanfare or discussion it seems.

 

[g00n]

DeBrincat's horring +/- is torpedoing my fantasy team. Pass.

 

[twabby]

I think Debrincat plays LW, as Giroux/Batherson are right side. And yeah the powerplay would need to be considered. Either bumper or hell you could move Ovi into bumper some too. Opportunity to completely redesign the powerplay as well if they wanted and cycle guys/generate more movement

Just not everyday you have opportunity to acquire a 25 year top 6 winger at a likely discount, so they gotta think about it if serious about retooling to get younger talent. He fits the bill

Good catch. Hockey reference listed him as a RW so I didn’t think more than that. I don’t watch the games after all.

I like the idea of DeBrincat much less if he’s a $9 million left wing playing behind Ovechkin.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I have to say Strome has exceeded my expectations of him. He doesnt get much fanfare or discussion it seems.

He plays the same cerebral style game as Nicky. He’s a bit faster than Nick ever was and I think he has a better shot but he’s not as good defensively. Still, they both play the game at their speed and have a very high hockey IQ, especially in the offensive zone.

He’s a good player. He’s not overly flashy so he won’t be a household name but we’re lucky to have him. Good signing by GM. If they can find a real 1C then Strome can be one of the better 2Cs in the league. If not, he’s still pretty solid as a low end 1C.